But in the early 1990s, township enterprises gradually declined due to various reasons.
Of course, state-owned factories also faced the historical trend of restructuring and bankruptcy in the 1990s, but compared with the complex ownership issues of township enterprises, Liu Meiyun prefers this kind of small state-owned factory.
The production line and labor force are relatively complete. If the day ever comes when the situation is desperate and no more funding is available, Liu Meiyu might be the first to take the plunge and contract the factory.
To put it bluntly, what she is interested in is not the productivity, but the entire factory.
She cannot handle a large state-owned factory with tens of thousands of employees in a year or two, but she can still work hard in a small factory with only a few thousand employees.
Of course, Yao Shunliu doesn't know about the possibility of privately contracting factories yet. The current contracting system is only for rural land. However, within two years, state-owned hotels, supply and marketing cooperatives, guesthouses, and some factories with poor performance will gradually be opened up to private contracting.
Liu Meiyun believed that as long as she had enough funds, she could be the first person to try something new.
Although Yao Shunliu didn't understand, based on his long-term experience of working with Liu Meiyun, he knew that the only way to avoid being embarrassed was to just do as he was told without asking.
So the next day, Yao Shunliu rode his bicycle to the Youyi Road branch early in the morning and inspected the business in the store.
"Brother Yao, the large size of that round-neck men's grey sweater is sold out here, so I transferred 20 more from the main store."
Since Chen Lili became the manager of a branch store and moved out of her home, she has devoted almost all her attention to the store's business.
She records the store's daily sales and problems in a small notebook. She also remembers how much inventory is left in the warehouse, which styles and colors are out of stock, and which sizes are out of stock.
Yao Shunliu nodded, very satisfied.
He was even more satisfied when he saw another salesperson named Song Qi in the store, who was introducing silk scarves and handkerchiefs in English to a foreigner who had just come out of the Friendship Store opposite.
I don’t know how Liu Meiyu managed to get an English-speaking Huaqing University student to work as a small salesperson in their clothing store.
"Ding Bell"
When Yao Shunliu heard the ringing of a bicycle at the door of the store, he knew it was Liu Meiyu.
Just as he was about to leave, Liu Meiyun waved at him, stopped her bike, walked into the store, looked him up and down, and then picked up a suit hanging on the wall.
"Brother Yao, please put this on."
Yao Shunliu took two steps back in horror, his face full of rejection: "Why would I wear this? It's scary."
"It's not appropriate for you to talk business like this." Liu Meiyu looked sharply at Yao Shunliu's dusty old cotton shirt with patches on his elbows, and advised him, "You are the boss after all. Dress a little more decently, so that we can be more credible when we speak."
In the 1980s, it was not popular to be a low-key boss. Whether you were rich or poor, it all depended on how decent you dressed. It was not like in later times, when you saw someone wearing flip-flops on the street, he might have dozens of apartments.
In this era when people have just solved the problem of food and clothing and are working hard to get rid of poverty, if you wear a patched cotton jacket and try to do business with others, they will definitely sweep you away with a broom.
"Then I can just go home and change into another one, and keep this one to sell for money."
Yao Shunliu had lived for most of his life, and he had rarely seen anyone wearing a suit, let alone himself. Moreover, wearing such a suit in such a cold weather would not protect him from the cold.
"Just wear this one." Liu Meiyu said firmly, pointing to the most expensive men's woolen coat hanging on the wall, "Put this on and it will be almost the same."
“…”
Yao Shunliu came out of the fitting room with a painful expression. He twisted his neck and tugged at his sleeves. He felt uncomfortable everywhere in his body.
Liu Meiyu looked up while flipping through the account book and said that she was quite satisfied. At least she had the style of a boss now, as long as she could stand up straighter.
"Brother Yao, you look like a different person wearing this." Chen Lili said sincerely.
Yao Shunliu twitched his lips. The two most expensive pieces of clothing in the entire store were now on him. How could he not look like a different person?
After giving Yao Shunliu a makeover, Liu Meiyu followed him to the small garment factory he mentioned.
"Who are you two looking for? Do you have a letter of introduction? If not, please register first."
When the factory gate guard saw the two people in front of him who were obviously dressed unusually, he quickly dusted off his body and walked out of the guard room with a smile.
Yao Shunliu recognized at a glance that this was the person who had been so impatient with him that day, but it was obvious that this person did not recognize him today, otherwise he would not have been so nice to him.
Last time he came, he didn't bring any ID, and he was greeted without saying a word. But today he even asked him to register. It really shows that clothes make the man.
Yao Shunliu: "Hello, comrade. We are from a nearby unit and we have something to ask Director Hao. Could you please help us?"
The guard nodded and said in a friendly manner: "Please register first, I will find someone to help you."
Looking at the guard's attentive back, Yao Shunliu suddenly realized why Liu Meiyu insisted on him changing his clothes.
If he had known this would be the result, he would have dressed like this when he went to visit factories a few days ago, and he wouldn't have been caught by someone.
Not long after Liu Meiyu finished filling out the registration book, the security guard came out with a smile on his face and invited them in.
It was originally a small factory, and it only took a few minutes to walk from the factory office to the main gate.
"Director Hao has just finished his morning meeting and is in his office. I'll take you there." The guard put away the registration book and saw that the registered unit on it was "Huamei Garment Factory." He did not suspect anything and took everyone to the director's office.
"Hello, Director. We are from Huamei Clothing Store."
Liu Meiyu walked into the office and saw a young man, estimated to be less than 40 years old, sitting behind a simple desk and chair. He was wearing a simple Zhongshan suit with a pen in his jacket pocket.
"What are your names, comrades?" The man stood up and shook hands with them. After meeting Yao Shunliu, he frowned and asked, "Huamei Clothing Store?"
"Yes, Director Hao, I'm Yao Shunliu. I just talked to you last week about the production line. This is another owner of our clothing store."
"Hello, comrade. My name is Liu Meiyun."
Under the man's surprised gaze, Liu Meiyun politely extended her hand and shook his hand, then went straight to the point: "Director Hao, I heard from Brother Yao that you can allocate a production line for us?"
The wrinkles on Hao Wenwu's forehead had not yet smoothed out. He glanced at Liu Meiyu, then turned his gaze to Yao Shunliu. After a few careful looks, he was sure that it was really the man who had boasted last week and asked him for the production line. Now that he had changed his clothes, he was quite good at intimidating people.
"Are you guys kidding or are you serious?"
Director Hao moved chairs for them. His attitude was not very good. At least he was too lazy to pour them a glass of water. But at least it was much better than the last time when Yao Shunliu had to stand during the entire discussion.
"Can we go and take a look at the production line first?" asked Liu Meiyu.
Director Hao hesitated for a few seconds, looking back and forth between Yao Shunliu and Liu Meiyun, and finally determined that the one who could really speak and make decisions between the two was this beautiful woman with delicate features. He nodded unexpectedly, with a serious expression: "It's no problem for you to look at the production line, but let me put this aside. If you really come to discuss cooperation, I welcome you, but if you come to make trouble, I will report it to the police. I'm very busy every day and don't have that much time to play house with you."
Facing the aggressive tone of Director Hao, Liu Meiyu smiled and took out a letter of intent for cooperation that she had prepared in advance from her bag: "Don't worry, Director Hao, we came here with sincerity today."
This was the first time that Factory Director Hao had seen a letter of intent for cooperation, but he was literate and could read. After he carefully read the contents, his expression became serious and he asked tentatively, "Can you guarantee a minimum production of 3,000 pieces of each sample garment and pay 70% of the payment in advance?"
"Director Hao, 70 percent is against the rules, right?" Liu Meiyu spoke slowly and steadily, with a perfect smile on her face from beginning to end.
The letter of intent for cooperation she gave only contained the intention to cooperate and promised the total annual order volume, but did not specify the specific unit production volume and payment. Moreover, Yao Shunliu had only told her that the unit production volume must not be less than 3,000 pieces, and the requirement of paying 70% of the payment in advance did not exist.
Either he didn't mention it last time, or the man just raised the price this time. Liu Meiyu prefers the latter.
"Every production line in the factory costs money. We must be stricter with self-employed people like you who have no protection. Otherwise, if we can't find people after production, or you refuse to pay, where can we find people? Besides, we are a state-owned factory, and every order has a registration procedure. We can't refuse the money you paid."
As the man spoke, he began to speak in an official tone.
After all, no matter how small their factory is, it is a formal state-owned factory. If those individual businesses outside want to cooperate with them, they must follow the rules.
Liu Meiyu didn't need to ask; just by looking at the man's self-righteous expression, she could guess what he was thinking.
Before the reform and opening up, the status of state-owned factories in people's hearts was indeed as unshakable as a mountain. However, as the economy began to develop rapidly after the reform and opening up, people realized that this mountain would also collapse. After all, the country is not stupid. Factories that have not been profitable have to support at least thousands of people and survive on grants every year. Who can withstand this internal friction in the long run?
Moreover, in the business dealings between state-owned factories, when the situation is good, a deposit is given and the balance can be recovered once the delivery date arrives. However, if the business is not good, it is possible that a year or two has passed since the delivery date, and the balance is still on the account, and it is not recovered until it becomes a bad debt. This is also a common occurrence.
"Director Hao, although we only have two stores at the moment, we will not stop at these two. I came here this time with the sincere intention of discussing cooperation with you. We definitely cannot handle 3,000 pieces of a single product at the moment. After all, we are a clothing store, not a wholesaler. If we go with this quantity, we will not be able to have many styles. And you have to pay 70% of the payment first, which is really too much for us. The most I can pay you is 20% first according to the rules."
The more Liu Meiyu spoke, the uglier the man's face became.
"However, there is absolutely no problem with the total annual order volume promised in my letter of intent. Even if we cannot reach it, we will directly settle the payment based on this volume."
The annual order quantity stated in the letter of intent was a number Liu Meiyu calculated based on actual conditions. It was something she could digest herself, and for a small state-owned factory with poor performance, it was just a little more than a piece of meat on a fly leg.
But this is exactly the effect Liu Meiyu wants. While ensuring the supply of her own store, she can also temporarily keep this small factory hanging. In this way, when the policy comes out, she can be the first to take advantage of it.
She also clearly remembered that it was not until 1984 that the first person to privately contract a state-owned enterprise, "Ma Shengli", appeared. In the first year of his contract, he not only turned a paper mill that was originally running at a loss into a profit, but also increased its profits several times.
From an unknown salesman, he became a well-known "horse factory manager" overnight, and even later created a paper industry "empire". Although this "empire" was disbanded in 1991, his former glory still left a mark in history.
Liu Meiyu doesn't want to change history or become the number one contractor. She just wants to follow in the footsteps of the big guys and make a fortune in silence.
Director Hao was still hesitating. He was not sure how much truth there was in Liu Meiyu's words. For a small individual business, even if the total order volume last year was based on the letter of intent, it was enough to shock people.
"Director Hao, I have made my sincerity very clear. If you feel that there is no room for consideration, then consider it as our intrusion today."
Liu Meiyun stood up from her chair, ready to leave. Yao Shunliu heaved a sigh of relief and whispered, "I told you that the township commune would be more suitable, but you didn't believe me."
"Don't be so impatient, comrades. You haven't even had a sip of water yet. Let's sit down and talk slowly."
The man's attitude changed. Not only did he ask someone to make tea for Liu Meiyu and the others, he also put on a smiling face: "Although our factory is not large, there are thousands of employees in total. There are eight or nine hundred workers on the assembly line alone. The machines were only replaced a few years ago. The production efficiency is absolutely impeccable..."
Director Hao, who is used to holding meetings of all sizes, can talk from dawn to dusk if he really wants to. He can tell you everything from the construction of the factory to the modification of machines and even the family situations of the employees.
If Liu Meiyu really had the patience to listen to him talk about the factory's development history, she might as well go home and accompany her son.
"Director Hao, we have learned about what you said before we came here, but we are a small business with limited capabilities. We can only offer this much sincerity. If it really doesn't work, we will withdraw today and have the opportunity to cooperate again in the future."
When Liu Meiyu was about to leave for the second time, the man finally put away his smile and said, "Hey, don't be anxious, comrades. Don't you want to see the production line? I'll take you to the workshop first, and then we can talk slowly."
“…”
If it weren't for the patience she had honed from a lifetime of working in sales, Liu Meiyu really wouldn't like to negotiate business with a veteran like Director Hao.
After wasting a whole morning and talking a lot of nonsense, they finally got back to their original intention when they first entered the store: to see the production line!
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